Best Bets

July 14-20, 2002

Don't expect the same old Shakespeare charades when Italy's provocative Aterballetto brings Mauro Bigonzetti's acclaimed full-evening ballet, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," to the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Friday and Saturday. For starters, the music will be a commissioned symphonic score by rocker Elvis Costello, not the Romantic Mendelssohn pieces used by Balanchine, Ashton and so many others. Moreover, Bigonzetti's dance style promises to be just as contemporary. Below: Thibaut Cherradi, left, Macha Daudel and Giuseppe Calanni.

Movies

Michael J. Fox returns as the voice of the mouse-who-would-be-a-boy in the sequel "Stuart Little 2." Melanie Griffith joins Nathan Lane in the animal-voice cast; Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie and Jonathan Lipnicki are back as Stuart's human family. Opens Friday.

Theater

Circle X Theatre Co. presents its first musical, "Laura Comstock's Bag-Punching Dog," about the birth of cinema. It follows key figures who chase their flickering dreams through a shadowy world of inspiration, competition, deceit and stolen acclaim. A world premiere, with music and lyrics by Chris Jeffries, it was written by Jillian Armenante and Alice Dodd, the creative team that scored critical praise and multiple awards for previous Circle X Theatre Co. productions "Great Men of Science, Nos. 21 & 22" and "In Flagrante Gothicto." Opens Friday at the 24th Street Theatre in L.A.

Jazz

Jazz singer Dianne Reeves, right, on Wednesday makes her first appearance at the Hollywood Bowl since her spring appointment to the new post of creative chair for jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Described as a Broadway and Hollywood salute to Billie Holiday, the show will also feature the Terence Blanchard Quintet, Lou Rawls, Lizz Wright, Jimmy Scott and others.

Music

Musical triple threat Jaime Laredo, who conducts and plays the violin and viola, returns in all three roles to the L.A. Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday. He joins violinist Leila Josefowicz in a program listing Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola, K. 364, Bach's Concerto for two violins and Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony.

Art

Although his popularity peaked in 18th century England, Spanish painter Bartolome Esteban Murillo created numerous significant works for religious orders as well as private patrons. The first U.S. exhibition devoted entirely to the Seville native features 34 paintings from American collections and arrives today at LACMA.

Video

Nominated for five Academy Awards including foreign-language film and original screenplay, the French comedy fable "Amelie" stars Audrey Tautou as the title character. She waits tables at a small Parisian cafe and sets about bringing happiness to everyone around her. Directed and co-written by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, "Amelie" spreads her magic to VHS and DVD on Tuesday.